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Collecting and Using Information for Nutrition

Improving the collection and use of information is a priority for SPRING. Data from a variety of sectors (agriculture, finance, education, health, etc.) play an important role in improving nutritional outcomes for women and children. To achieve our goal, we gather evidence on the best ways to fill data gaps, develop new tools and guidance, and seek consensus on best practices.

Major SPRING activities in this area include—

The information that results from these activities helps program managers, policymakers, and international organizations better understand nutrition needs, make more informed decisions, plan more effectively, and advocate for improved nutrition funding.

What and how information is communicated affects actions at all levels related to food availability, care practices, health services, and the sociocultural environment. Changes in policies, financing, and information or monitoring systems, for example, will do little good if they are not communicated from national to community to household levels. Similarly, the information that is or is not communicated with regard to the cost of agricultural inputs and food, available health services, priority nutrition practices, and prevalence of malnutrition, for example, can affect what food is grown, stored, and/or purchased, if health services are utilized, how children are fed, or which nutrition programs are funded.

News

Screenshot of the tool page
March 2017
To effectively address anemia, countries must develop a context-specific understanding of their anemia situation. SPRING developed “Understanding Anemia: Guidance for Conducting a Landscape Analysis” to provide step-by-step support for gathering and ...
Photo from the consultation
November 2015
The 2014 Global Nutrition Report emphasized the need for sufficient financial resources for nutrition and pointed out the importance of countries being able to track nutrition funding. One year after, 30 countries were able to report on the prelimina...
SPRING presentation on HCES
March 2014
Household Consumption and Expenditure Surveys (HCES)—a collective term for multi-purpose household surveys—are a valuable resource for understanding food consumption patterns and nutrient intakes and identifying communities where nutrition interventi...